Free Hidden (House of Night Novels) by P. C. Cast Page B

almost overflowing with bubbly champagne. She grinned at the glass and said, “Mimosa—as my mom would say, breakfast of champions .”
    “I know what Erik is,” Shaylin said. She didn’t sound pissed. She didn’t sound pleased. She sounded sure of herself. “I also know what you are.”
    Aphrodite raised one blond brow at her and took a long drink of her mimosa. “Do tell.”
    Uh-oh, I thought. I suppose I should’ve done something to stop what was going to happen, but it was a little like standing on train tracks and trying to push a car out of the way. I was more likely to get smashed than to get the car out of trouble—so I gawked and drank my brown pop instead.
    “You’re silver. That reminds me of moonlight, which tells me you’ve been touched by Nyx. But you’re also a buttery yellow color, like the light of a small candle.”
    “Which tells you what?” Aphrodite studied her well-manicured fingernails, clearly not caring about Shaylin’s answer.
    “Which tells me that, like a little candle, you could be easily blown out.”
    Aphrodite’s eyes narrowed and she slapped her hand against the tabletop. “That’s it, new kid. I have been through too much battle-against-Darkness crap to put up with your mouth or your know-it-all attitude.” She looked like she was getting ready to go for Shaylin’s throat. I was considering running and trying to find Darius when Stevie Rae bubbled into the room.
    “Hey, y’all! ‘Mornin’!” she said around a big yawn. “Man, I’m tired. Is there any Mountain Dew left in the fridge?”
    “Oh, for shit’s sake, it’s not morning. It’s sunset. And why the hell is everybody awake?” Aphrodite threw up her hands.
    Stevie Rae frowned at her. “It’s polite to say mornin’ to people, even if it’s not technically correct. And I like to be up early. There’s nothin’ wrong with that.”
    “He’s a bird!” Aphrodite said, pouring herself some more champagne.
    “Are you drinkin’ already?” Stevie Rae asked.
    “Yes. Who are you? A bumpkin version of my mom?”
    “No, if I was any version of your momma I’d be okay with you drinkin’ your breakfast, ’cause your momma is seriously messed up.” Stevie Rae put the can of Mountain Dew back in the fridge. “And now that I think about it, drinkin’ pop for breakfast probably isn’t a great idea, either. I’ll bet there’s some Lucky Charms around here somewhere.”
    “They’re magically delicious,” Shaylin said. “And if you find them I’ll have some, too.”
    “Count Chocula.” Since it didn’t look like Aphrodite was going to kill anyone (at that moment) my voice was working again. “If you see a box of that, I’ll take it.”
    “What the hell’s wrong with mimosas?” Aphrodite was saying. “Orange juice is for breakfast.”
    “What about the champagne part? That’s alcohol,” Stevie Rae said.
    “It’s pink Veuve Clicquot. That means it’s good champagne, which cancels out the alcohol part,” Aphrodite said.
    “Do you really believe that?” Shaylin asked.
    Looking at me and pointedly ignoring Shaylin, Aphrodite said, “Why is it speaking to me?”
    “I have a headache, and we haven’t even left for school yet,” I told Aphrodite.
    “The stables almost burned down and our High Priestess was outed for being a murderous demi-goddess. I think we can all miss school today,” Aphrodite said.
    “Nuh uh,” Stevie Rae said. “We gotta go to school because of all that. Thanatos is gonna need us. Plus, Dragon’s got to have his funeral pyre. That’s gonna be bad, but we have to be there for it.”
    That even shut up Aphrodite. She continued to drink while Stevie Rae poured herself and Shaylin some Lucky Charms (which is a lesser cereal than Count Chocula, even though it does have marshmallows), and we all just looked generally gloomy.
    “I’m gonna miss Dragon,” I said. “But it’s really cool that he’s with Anastasia again. And the Otherworld is awesome.